This fun filled event features fishing tournaments for adults and children, live music, tasty food, canoeing clinics, boat exhibits, a scavenger hunt, and, of course, prizes. Get a feel for the community as you fish next to locals. Learn how to right yourself if your canoe tips, so you can feel confident while navigating the Peace or Manatee Rivers; your innkeepers can help you find boat rentals in the vicinity.

Hardee Lakes, at 5502 Ollie Roberts Rd, Bowling Green, FL, is about 20 minutes northwest of Wauchula and an hour east of Palmetto; you’ll find a bed and breakfast Central West Florida in either town. There is no reason not to enjoy the comforts of home while traveling. Tuck into a delicious home-cooked breakfast filled with locally grown fresh fruit each morning (without laboring in the kitchen to make it). Read a book in the shade of the porch. Learn about the region you’re visiting.